Printing, presenting and storing your photographs

I guess that most of you agree with the main point in my previous post: “the print is the photograph”.

To some, it is such an obvious concept that it may not be worthwhile to mention. But, as much as we believe that the true photographic experience emerges from looking at prints, photographic editing is now mostly entirely driven by the use of computers, so most images never get printed. We even disqualify or select images from our own work by looking at the computer screen!

How many images do you print? Do you create photobooks? Do you create folios of printed work?

I myself print less than I should [and I have a pro grade inkjet printer]… this is at large because I have not found a satisfactory way to store the prints so I can access and visualize the images in a convenient manner. I have tried on demand photobooks [e.g. Blurb] but the quality is far lower than inkjet prints and there is little control of color calibration and proofing.

I would love to make folios like Brooks Jensen does, but have not found commercial sources for the packaging … the ones at Light Impressions are expensive and thicker than I like for folios of 10-20 images. And I have not found any inexpensive way to bind inject prints in a book like format.

Do you have any suggestion? How do you store your prints [portfolios] so you can visualize them in a convenient manner? Do you know any [inexpensive] system that allows binding of inject prints to create a photo-book? [Photobook creator, as indicated in the comments by dansroka, could be an interesting product to explore for the creation of photobooks using inkjet prints]

Dummy Books -like Alec Soth did for his project sleeping by the Mississippi – are a great idea, but costly at more than $50 per binding.

Photo Books by Smilebooks.com is another option I came across. They offer a free downloadable software to customize travel photo albums, wedding photo books and more. Their Classic Photo Book prices start at $19.95, which is affordable.

Any advise you like to share?